51��Ƶ

Every year, thousands of young people leave care without the safety net most of us take for granted. Without family support, they face steep and overlapping challenges - securing stable housing, accessing education and employment, managing their mental health, and building the confidence and skills needed for independent life. Rising bills, loan repayments and rent arrears are just some of the challenges faced by young people leaving the care system across London every year. However stable or otherwise life has been up to that point, the sudden need to handle the challenges of the adult world without support can be crippling.

Our Youth Futures Care Leavers programme responds to this reality with a simple but powerful approach: flexible, long-term funding that supports the whole person - not just one issue at a time.

Delivered by 51��Ƶ as part of a national £7 million programme with other community foundations across the UK and led by UK Community Foundation, the fund brings together local partners and funders to improve outcomes for care-experienced young people. It provides multi-year funding to grassroots organisations supporting care leavers aged 16–25, helping them to:

• access safe and secure accommodation
• move into education, training, and employment
• strengthen their mental health and wellbeing
• develop practical life skills for independence

This holistic model recognises that care leavers face cumulative barriers - and that lasting change requires joined-up, sustained support. Support that helps care leavers in London thrive when they transition from childhood to adulthood.

51��Ƶ’s Youth Futures Fund aims to support care leavers in London. The fund has awarded £395,000 in grants to six innovative local community organisations - including Settle Support and Live Unlimited - to support care leavers in their transition to adult life. We estimate that, in the first year of this programme, 800 care leavers have been reached, enhancing their opportunities in accommodation, education, employment, and overall well-being.

The Youth Futures funding provided to Settle Support has covered part of the salary of one of their Settle Coaches, delivering intensive support for 75 care experienced young people, across Lambeth and Croydon, through 675 hours of support over three years.

In addition, Settle Support and the other community organisations supported report that multi-year funding has been “transformative” - enabling them to plan ahead, deepen relationships, and reach more young people.

We are now seeking partners to support the next phase of this work. Our immediate goal is to raise at least £185,000 to expand the Care Leavers programme in London, leveraging match funding and ensuring more young people can move from surviving to thriving.

Together, we can ensure that leaving care is not a cliff edge - but a supported transition into a stable and hopeful future.

You never really stop being a care leaver... it's a lifelong journey understanding what has happened and the deep-rooted impact it has had on me. - Jenni Mohammodi, Live Unlimited (supported by Youth Futures Fund)